Chinese group close to selling two Australian luxury projects

Chinese group close to selling two Australian luxury projects

Sydney – 17 January 2018 –Billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group is close to reaching an agreement to sell two Australian luxury property projects – one in Sydney and one on the nation’s Gold Coast, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

The buyer is of Chinese origin, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. A deal could be announced in the coming days, the people said. Beijing-based Wanda declined to comment.

The sale would be part of a wave of disposals Wanda has signed in recent months to raise money amid rising Chinese government scrutiny of how it financed overseas investments over a decade of expansion into luxury real estate and entertainment from Sydney to London and Hollywood.

The company’s hotel unit, which in November said it was reviewing its property projects from Sydney to Chicago, sold its interests in the One Nine Elms project on the south bank of London’s River Thames, according to a filing late Tuesday in Hong Kong.

Wanda had said in August that it wasn’t in talks to sell its Australian projects, following a report in the Australian Financial Review that parties were discussing a sale of the Circular Quay tower and Jewel resort projects.

Guangzhou R&F Properties, one of China’s top 20 developers by contracted sales, agreed to pay about US$3 billion for the 77 Wanda hotels in July, stepping in to ease financing for the conglomerate’s sale of tourism and theme park projects to rival developer Sunac China Holdings.

R&F has also agreed to buy Wanda’s luxury hotel and homes project in London’s Nine Elms district, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.